A New Dimension
by SnakeyShirogane
Summary: New Game. Minato Arisato, after defeating Nyx and becoming the Seal, is offered to restart his whole adventure, with a few changes. For one, Minako Arisato's the new leader of SEES! Will update (Mostly) every Sunday.
1. Freedom

_Ankou: a personification of death in French mythology and the traditional depiction of the grim reaper._

_(Taken from the Megami Tensei wiki)_

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><p>Chapter 1 - Freedom<p>

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><p>When Minato Arisato awoke, it was to the welcome blue room he'd seen so often. What personas could he fuse this time? When he was about to ask, he realized that it was not Igor nor Elizabeth in front of him, but a strange wraithlike man standing where the mysterious long-nosed resident often sat.<p>

The man had a dark gray, cracked, almost featureless face with one normal ice-blue eye and one that was rather unusual. The sclera was black, and the eye glowed yellow, around which was the crack. Over it, he wore a dragon's skull and a ashen hood and cloak, with a black sash on the left shoulder. Light gray pants, pointed black gloves, a dark aqua shirt, and a threatening-looking spear all accentuated the ethereal appearance of the stranger. Surprisingly, he had no feet but floated in place just above the ground.

"Hello, Fool of the Universe. My name is Ankou." It took Minato a second to realize that he was talking to him. The voice echoed and was slightly distorted. "I am an acquaintance of Philemon, the _original_ master of the Velvet Room, per se. One could call me a… dimension traveller of sorts."

Minato tried to ask why this stranger- Ankou, he reminded himself. What a strange name- would visit him. He couldn't speak. He also discovered that he himself was not sitting either, like he usually was, but chained to a golden door. As a test, he attempted to move an arm. It didn't work. He turned his head laboriously and noticed that there was a familiar shape in the crack of the door.

All at once, memories flooded his mind. Ryoji, the Fall, Nyx… and becoming the Seal.

"You remember. Your tale sparked intrigue. While the power of bonds being used to overcome impossible odds is not unheard of, it is a rare occurrence; Especially if one bond is with a resident of the Velvet Room."

He would have laughed if he could, remembering the naive "dates" of sorts.

"I am here to propose an offer. Time travel is ridiculous and impossible," Ankou said, "However, dimensions start and end at different times. Some last until the inevitable explosion of the sun, while others… are cut short. Likewise, some begin at another's end, and others a little late or early. I can send you into a dimension just approaching the beginning of your journey, if you would like. It is not common that a pure soul is imprisoned unfairly."

I want to go, Minato tried to say. But what about the Seal?

"The Seal is not to be worried about. However, if you stay, there is a slight chance that you may be freed and released back into your proper dimension. It may take years."

Minato took a long while to think. It was very likely that his friends would pass away before his chains were broken. With a new determination, Minato agreed to the deal, and then all turned white…


	2. Arrival

Chapter 2 - Arrival

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><p>Minato was on a train.<p>

He sat next to a pretty brunette girl with red eyes, listening to music with a small smile on her face. Eyes widening, Minato silently fled to a farther seat, where she wouldn't be able to see him when the Dark Hour came. It wasn't hard; _Burn My Dread_ was a rather loud song. Ankou did mention some things varying between dimensions. He wasn't expecting a whole 'nother him, especially _female_ and practically his polar opposite. He looked at what he was wearing, and was mostly relieved. He was in his school uniform, SEES armband included. In his pocket, the Velvet Room key warmed at his touch, and in the other was an Evoker. Thankfully, the branding was not present on that, but he would probably have to get rid of the sash later. The train arrived at Tatsumi Port Island with a friendly beep. The clock was at 11:59…

_Ding._

The world transformed into the grotesque Dark Hour as midnight struck and his other passengers instantly transmogrified unknowingly. The girl's music cut off abruptly and she looked around, terrified. She bolted to her new dorm, not knowing that she was being followed. A year of sneaking up on shadows pays off.

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><p>The girl arrived, scared out of her wits, to see a creepy child in a prisoner's outfit. The night <em>could not<em> get any weirder, shy of unicorns of death falling from the sky. He pointed to a piece of parchment and a old-fashioned quill.

"Hello! Please sign there, it's a contract. Don't worry, it only says that you'll take responsibility for your actions. The usual stuff." He smiled. At this point, she was willing to do whatever it took to get rid of whatever nonsense she was hallucinating, and signed _Arisato Minako_ in neat, sweeping letters.

The kid picked up the paper, hugging it to himself as if it would slip right out of his fingers. "Time waits for no one," He said, "It delivers us all to the same end..."

And promptly vanished.

"Wh-Who's there?" A nervous brunette girl wearing a pink cardigan stood on the lower stairs, staring at the red-eyed visitor. A silver gun shone in her hand, trembling. She pointed it at the visitor.

"Takeba, stop!" A sharp, commanding voice halted the armed girl as the Dark Hour ended. A red-haired young woman with a strict demeanor came down the stairs. "You are… Minako Arisato, correct? I apologise for the dorm mix-up."

Minato coughed when he heard her name. There goes any chance of him joining SEES like usual; An alias could work, but he wouldn't be able to keep it up for long. He might be very good at hiding his emotions, but slips are inevitable. He couldn't pose as a sibling either; they looked absolutely nothing alike except for the MP3 Player, and even that was in a different color.

"What was that?" Shoot. Mitsuru heard his cough. He raced off to Paulownia Mall in search of the Velvet Room.

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><p>Minako thought she saw a figure with blue hair speeding past at an unreal speed outside the window. She brushed it off as nerves, a hallucination brought on by the creepy coffins and blood that suddenly made themselves known a few minutes ago, then left like they wanted nothing to do with the red-haired girl. And she still wasn't over being welcomed by a gun.<p>

"Probably nothing. My name is Kirijo Mitsuru and this is Takeba Yukari. I apologise for her actions." Mitsuru bowed.

"I-It's nothing. Is it how you welcome everyone to this dorm?" Minako laughed nervously. Mitsuru ignored it. She ordered Yukari to show Minako to her room, then left after a curt good-night.

When Yukari and Minako arrived at the latter's new room, the former asked her a question.

"H-Hey… When you got here, was there anything… off?"

Nope, just that the water turned to blood, everything turned green, all the electronics except that weird streetlamp went out, and the people became coffins. Perfectly normal. She responded with a shake of the head, not wanting to worry her dorm mate. Minako entered her room, checked that everything had been moved properly, and then collapsed on the bed.

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><p>The Velvet Room's door was still in the alleyway, thankfully. He fished the proper key out of his pocket and opened it, stepping into the midnight blue room. Again, Igor nor any of the other residents were inside, but Ankou.<p>

"Hello again, Fool of the Universe." Ankou greeted. "I will be assisting you on your journey, as Igor is quite busy handling just one guest."

"Are my Personas intact?" It was important that he could still fend off shadows. While he was still strong after training for the battle with the Nyx Avatar, Personas are essential.

"Yes. Every one in the Compendium is available, which is here." Ankou took a large, leather-bound book out of a fold in his cloak. "Your equipment is also here." He nodded towards the corner of the Velvet Room, containing a pile of assorted armors and weapons. Beside it, there was a box full of savings from killing shadows. There was _quite_ a lot in there.

"Sweet." That'll save a couple months of consistent searching and hunting. Ankou handed him a cloak like his own, but smaller.

"You cannot join your group, as you've surely realized by now. My cloak can temporarily bend light. I would recommend spectating and offering occasional help. If you run out of an idea for an alias, use my name."

Minato thanked Ankou gratefully and left the Velvet Room. New objective: Help them with the first two full moon shadows (There was no reason to stop them. It was inevitable that all would be killed, if not by SEES, then hunted down by Strega), then find some way to get to Yakushima before SEES does.

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><p><strong>Hello! This is SnakeyShirogane, the author! Yes, I know my pen name sounds silly. That's kind of the point. Like when I wore a penguin costume, a shirt with "LIFE" written on it with marker, and handed out lemons to my teachers on Halloween.<strong>

**Here is the first of hopefully few Author's Notes, since I find them kind of intrusive. This is the longest chapter of my pre-prepared four. I planned to release this on 12/21/14, but consider this as Christmas-come-early. Yay. Though, don't blame me if I do end up skipping that date because I forgot. I have some pretty bad memory.**

**Also, do you see that cover there? I drew it myself, and the story just kind of formed around Ankou's design. If I'm to be honest, I prefer drawing over writing, but this is fun. It's kind of inspired off of Reset and other fanfics with similar themes.**

**Just saying, I am an extremely unromantic person. Expect very little romance, but a bunch of friendship and sarcastic humor. **

**Maybe a little Minato x Aigis, if I'm _really_ feeling like it. They're pretty cute, I gotta say._  
><em>**

**Storytime with Snakey! I originally _hated_ writing. I was bad at it, and had little to no motivation. But that's cause of the Realistic Fiction crap they'd been only letting us write for years. There was this one project where we were allowed to write fantasy or sci-fi or whatever, and that was where this hobby sparked. **

**And I think I may be one of the few who don't actually make any grammatical or spelling mistakes on the first draft. Woo hoo?'**

**See you later,**

**~SnakeyShirogane**


	3. Evoking

Chapter 3 - Evoking

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><p>The first day of school passed without a hitch, except for having slight bedhead and wrinkled clothes from sleeping in them. Junpei was a pretty funny guy, and he and Yukari could probably do a comedy routine together. Minako would pay to see that. She arrived back at the dorm and actually unpacked everything, did her usual nighttime routine, and passed out.<p>

Only to be woken up by Yukari's incessant banging. Jeez, let a girl sleep! What is she _doing_?

Yukari barged in after Minako absolutely refused to get up. Why didn't she remember to lock the door…? She was holding a rather large naginata and threw it onto the side of the bed. "Up! We're in danger!"

Grumbling, Minako picked up the japanese spear- it was surprisingly light- and ran after Yukari. She turned sharply and began running up the stairs after Mitsuru said something. Minako was too tired to pay too much attention. When the two girls reached the roof, a huge blob of black sludge with many arms climbed up the side of the building to join them. In one of the hands, it carried a blue mask that turned to look at them. Minako now understood why Yukari sounded like she was having a panic attack. She probably was, in hindsight. She raised the silver gun from the night before to her forehead. The creature easily batted Yukari away, the pistol sliding to the other girl's feet.

She heard a boy's voice in her ear. At the time, she wasn't considering how crazy she had to be to hear a voice in her head, but she froze and listened.

"_Pull the trigger."_

She complied, and then fainted.

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><p>Minato was perched on the side of a building near Minako's hospital room, with the help of a Garudyne. Ankou's coat was extremely useful, but he considered that leaving himself unnamed would be inconvenient. Orpheus was the name of Minako's persona, so that was too incriminating. Thanatos would cause great suspicion, even more than what is naturally caused by being a mysterious almost-spectator. Messiah sounded alright, but Minato wasn't about to use his life as sacrifice if he still needed to save Shinji, Mitsuru's dad, and Chidori. Ankou was, quite literally, the only practical alias he could go by. With another wind spell, he leapt off the side of the building to buy a laptop and try getting a job at Yakushima.<p>

It wasn't too difficult, and he signed up for a early-morning part-time cleaning job that would begin in a few weeks. He also enrolled himself into Gekkougan, but as "Makoto Yuki"; a name he came up with on the spot. He'll act as he used to, with complete apathy; figuring that he may as well sleep through class. He drilled the order and answers into his head so hard for the finals he doubted it would be budge if someone tried to wipe his memory.

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><p>Toriumi-sensei slammed her book onto her desk, instantly startling the homeroom into silence. "We have a new student. He was late at registration and missed the first day of school. Makoto-san, introduce yourself." She said, not mincing a word.<p>

"Hi. I'm Makoto Yuki, and I look forward to working with you all." He spoke in a monotone so flat it may as well have been a tsundere girl's bust size in an anime.

"Sit wherever there's an empty desk." 'Makoto' chose the one by the window in the farthest corner. "Arisato is absent for medical reasons. I was notified that she may not return for a few days, to recover."

"Huh? That's weird, she was so lively yesterday…"

"Did something happen?"

"I hope she'll be alright…"

Were the words of the other students in the classroom, muttered to their peers.

"Quiet!" Toriumi-sensei slammed her book again. "We will now begin class…"

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><p><strong>I'd update quicker but <strong>**I want to make sure I don't end up accidentally putting this on hiatus or something.**

**'Cause I don't know about you guys, but I hate it when stories go on hiatus.**

**Also! (Generation 5 Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon) Labrys WILL BE IN THIS STORY! Just saying. If you hate her or whatever, go read something else. If you love her, then yay. Speaking of not-yet-released info... I have four more chapters written. Sometimes I wish there wasn't such a big space between big events.**

**See you next time,**

**~SnakeyShirogane**


	4. Observation

**Merry Christmas, or if you don't celebrate it, Happy Holidays. From me, you get an early chapter.**

**~SnakeyShirogane**

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><p>Chapter 4 - Observation<p>

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><p>The week until Minako woke up from her visit to the Velvet Room was uneventful. Minato, not wanting to show any relation, checked on her by using Ankou's cloak and looking for a few seconds through her window with well-timed Garu spells. It was a discovery he himself found; when you get strong enough, consistent casting of the weak wind spell was enough to permit flight. Maybe that's how he would kill Ikutsuki.<p>

Ikutsuki... That devil-spawn. He should get rid of him before the betrayal. Make it look like an accident. He would die anyway; no reason to let him cause destruction before he does.

Minato shook his head. It'll do no good to think so morbidly.

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><p>It continued to be rather uneventful until Minako and etc. were sent to Tartarus for the first time. Minato was overseeing this very exchange, from one of the blocks floating in space within the lobby. Nobody looks at them more than twice, anyway. Once to say "what the heck is that," and another to say "that's really weird." On Minako's second glance, she noticed Minato's dark gray hood behind one of the pillars (they <em>were<em> marble-colored, after all). She brushed it off, assuming she was going insane again. However, throughout the whole exploration, she felt as if she was being watched, and not only by Mitsuru. Again, it was ignored. Though, they did see a few cases where the shadow they were chasing suddenly ran backwards into the exploration team, like it was running away from something horrifying.

The first time Mitsuru detected the "something horrifying," For about a minute, she was reduced to a blubbering mess, speaking as if reading out what was typed by a person rolling on a keyboard. They were begged to absolutely avoid it at all costs, but it seemed that it followed them wherever they went at a safe distance. Junpei, being less of a muscle-brained idiot than Akihiko but more of a _outright_ idiot, tried to trap it in a dead end. He almost succeeded in doing so, much to the absolute horror of everyone else, but it seemed to have outright disappeared when it happened, then reappeared when Junpei left.

He was excluded from next attempt at exploration.

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><p>Minato cursed himself for letting himself be scanned by Mitsuru. If Minako wasn't so quick on her feet, they could have potentially gotten hurt while she was incapacitated. On the bright(-ish) side, he now had a reputation similar to the Reaper and was surely going to be avoided now. Leading the weak shadows into the main group, backwards, was his little way of helping them with getting the edge in the fight. He also slowed down the Reaper whenever they were on a treasure floor. He was sure they'd just assume the Reaper got mad and shot fire at the walls in a temper tantrum, like a small child.<p>

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><p>Minako had begun calling the strange observer "the Crow", since its coat and way of perching on streetlights reminded her of the bird. It was likely that it didn't know that she could see it, or just didn't care too much. Ever since Mitsuru had freaked out about that weird presence, it had kept a distance far enough so she didn't accidentally try to scan it again. It moved at a speed that even Akihiko, who had still not recovered because he was trying to still train, the muscle-brained idiot, noticed was much quicker than anyone in SEES, much less any shadow. (The spell Sukukaja, which would raise speed significantly, was suggested. It was immediately rejected as no others with the Potential had been discovered.) Because of this and its tendency to follow the group, Minako assumed it was the same entity as the Crow.<p>

She had started many new Social Links with others. And almost every time that time froze to notify her of the rank-up and the Raven was there, it tilted its head like it knew exactly what was happening. She decided not to tell anyone about the weird spectator. It was enough that they were killing eldritch monsters in a high school-turned-tower in a hidden 25th hour. SEES didn't need to know their leader was being stalked by a person in a weird coat.

School was pretty ordinary. Makoto, she noted, slept through any and all classes throughout the day. This particular day was especially entertaining.

"Makoto-san!" The teacher yelled, startling the sleeping teenager awake. "You seem to be pretty focused. Care to answer the question?" He said, sarcastically.

"Answer B," he said immediately and put his head down on the desk.

"Wh- that's correct." The teacher was baffled. He was about to say something else, but Makoto had gone to sleep again.


	5. Priestess

Chapter 5 - Priestess

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><p>Minato looked at the calendar in his small apartment, not too far away from the dorm. The calendar was color-coded and labelled for all important events, such as full moons, the trip to Yakushima, Shinji's death-date...<p>

The second full moon was fast approaching. He'll have to follow them onto the train. And this time, he wasn't risking two other lives with the guesswork of one. The right lever was green, of all colors. What kind of idiot made the emergency brakes _green_? It's traditionally _red_ for danger! On the bright side, he'd start working at Yakushima right afterwards. Maybe he could see Aigis? Minato missed her.

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><p>"Arisato-san, I found a large shadow reading from the monorail." Mitsuru said, getting off her motorcycle. "I will be providing support from here." Minako nodded, and gestured to Junpei and Yukari. Without a thought, they boarded the monorail and the doors shut behind them.<p>

"Crap!" Minako swore. For the lack of anything smarter to do, they advanced through the sections, battling the occasional shadow and trying not to break anything too important.

And, of course, Junpei runs off. Minako swore again. That idiot was going to be the death of the team.

When they finally reached the Priestess shadow, after a whole lot of panicking over the time limit, they got into regular positions. There would be no coffin-caped mega-personas showing up in this fight. Junpei smacked the shadow with his baseball-like amateur stance, already becoming pretty powerful but still lacking generally, especially in the luck department. Yukari slung Dia after Garu after Dia, as the Priestess's hand really seemed to gravitate towards the team's resident idiot.

Suffice to say, they had about half a minute to pull a lever and hope to whatever's up there, whether it be God or a flying llama on a unicycle, that they would survive. ("Mina-tan, that's just ridiculous." Junpei had commented. She replied with a curt "you never know," and then they focused their attention back on the bright and _improperly colored_ levers.)

The group heard a thump on the windshield. A shadow slid off slowly, causing a sickening screech. Minako felt a tap on her shoulder and turned before Yukari and Junpei lost interest in the strange puddle of ichor, now leaving a trail on the glass.

There stood the Crow, face hidden under his hood. He stood right behind a green lever and tapped it twice with a slightly shadow-stained hand before vanishing as if he was never there. Minako got the message and pulled it as soon as he left, and not a second too soon. Her other teammates, who weren't expecting the sudden halt, tripped and crashed in a heap on the floor. Yukari groaned and picked herself up.

"Wh- How did you know which was the right switch!?" Yukari asked, incredulous.

"I guessed." She answered, trying her absolute best to keep a straight face.

They all shared a laugh, the tenseness of the previous situation forgotten as they healed up any remaining scratches and trudged through one of the monorail's open doors.

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><p>That turned out alright. They're all intact, but that was a little too close for comfort.<p>

Now to head home and prepare for Yakushima…

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><p>If one was near a certain room on the second floor of a certain dorm around a certain time of year, one could hear terrible wailing.<p>

"Midterrrrrrms…"

It is the sound of Junpei despairing over his lack of intelligence.

"Shut up, Stupei! We're trying to study!" Came from a floor above. Yukari and Minako were studying together for the upcoming exam in the former girl's room. Minako proved to be an absolute genius, helping Yukari along through the subjects she didn't understand. It just so happened that half of them were in that particular category. Pure chance.

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><p>The test wasn't so bad, for Minako. She got pretty high scores. Junpei… Junpei didn't do so well, though, as is expected. Yukari did okay. Not fantastic, but she passed.<p> 


	6. Labrys

Chapter 6 - Labrys

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><p>As Minato was on the boat to Yakushima on a Sunday, wearing the dreary uniform that was mailed to his apartment, he mused that flying would probably have been more efficient. Of course, it would also likely lead to reports of a mysterious, large bird flying to the island that may or may not be an evolved Loch Ness Monster, despite that particular myth originating from Europe, not Japan. Never stopped the news from trying to report it as such.<p>

His job was a simple one. Sweep the dust from the old labs at the island, and do not tell anyone about any suspicious crates nor open any. Because of that ominous footnote, the position was open for quite a while. Most of the… _fishy_ Ergonomics research equipment was probably destroyed, anyway. The Kirijo Group was just paranoid, he assumed.

When he arrived, a rather plain man in a lab coat- probably a scientist- led him to the research building after seeing his uniform. "You're the new cleaner?" He asked.

"Yes, sir." Minato responded. "Makoto Yuki."

"Well then, Makoto-san, the note didn't seem to discourage you." the scientist said, "I told the higher-ups that it was a silly idea. Nobody wanted to clean the place for months after the original janitor quit and got a job at Wild Duck Burger instead. Oh, we're here."

In front of the two men was a futuristic hidden building made of concrete and steel with an iron-fenced courtyard and a little river beside it. The door opened after the scientist swiped a card in a scanner with a quiet beep. He led Minato to one of the underground storage rooms, brightly lit by white lights installed in the ceiling. Crates and other boxes of the sort were piled around randomly.

"You'll be working here for now. Come up to the ground floor if there's anything weird." He gestured to a broom, mop. bucket, and bottle of soap. "There's a bathroom to the left of the elevator." Minato nodded and got to work.

It was very tiring. The room was a lot larger than the entrance room suggested, and some times Minato had to climb over crates to reach other parts of the vast expanse. Spiderwebs and dust piles were everywhere, and he found that he had to scrub some parts of the walls twice to get rid of all the built-up grime. Though, there was one box all the way in a corner, looking like it had been barely touched for a few years. Unlike the other wooden containers, it was made entirely out of metal and had a few wires poking out of the sides.

It looked, eerily, like a coffin.

Minato wondered whether or not it was a good idea to notify the workers upstairs of the metal case. It was very likely it was a result of Ergonomics Research, and could thus be dangerous…

He picked up a crowbar he had found in the bathroom and pried the cover open. Fortune favors the brave, as some say. Besides, if it really _was_ dangerous, the Kirijo Group would have specifically looked for it and removed it, like everything else. He leaned slightly over the contents and nearly jumped.

It was another Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon.

And Aigis claimed to be the last one. She had bluish, silvery hair tied in a ponytail reminiscent of a medieval knight, and behind her was a _ridiculously_ large axe with rocket thrusters. As Minato was about to say something, maybe wake her up, her red eyes flickered open and she shot right up, almost colliding her forehead into Minato's.

"Huh? Where am I?" She had a Kansai accent, strangely enough. Unlike Aigis, she had a fluid voice, too. "Who are you!?" She turned to look at Minato, sharply. When she was about to reach for her axe, the ASSW forgot she was laying down in a box stacked on top of other crates. A loud crash resulted from the metal box tipping over and slamming the ground into the robot's face.

"You okay there?" Minato lifted the case off of her back and leaned it against the wall. "My name's Minato Arisato. What's yours?"

"My name…? ...Fifth Generation Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon, Labrys." She was considerably more humanlike than Aigis. That reminded him…

"Please pretend that my name is Makoto Yuki. It's really important- I'll explain later. Though, do you know who Aigis is? I can give you her unit name, if that'd help." Labrys shook her head.

"Seventh Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon, Aigis. So, she'd be your younger sister."

Labrys still shook her head, but got up and picked up her axe. "I have a sister?" She looked a little brighter than before. "Can you take me to her?"

"I'm not too sure where she is, but I can try."

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><p>And it is through this conversation that Minato found himself being assigned to teach the basic properties of the world to a robot with a giant axe folded on her back like wings. The moment he had arrived at the ground floor, three scientists ran up to him and asked a flurry of questions. It turns out that she was a unit the Group lost the location to after the research logs were to be erased. Though, Labrys seemed to be pretty hostile. As would be suggested by her immediately pointing her axe at the scientists and yelling something unintelligible, and having to be held back by Minato's swift intervention. It seemed she wasn't willing to listen to anyone in a lab coat or even vaguely resembling a researcher.<p>

"Um, she told me that she had a sister named Aigis. Where is she?" Minato lied. Better a white lie than Labrys accidentally hurting one of the scientists, what with all her weapon-brandishing and threatening.

"Aigis?" one of them said, surprised. "Well… That's fine. Lately she's been a little hysterical, saying something about a port?"

"Lead the way."

Labrys absolutely refused to put her axe down. Obviously, there were a lot of stares as the odd trio marched through the facility. Aigis was sitting at a table trying her very best to try using a pair of chopsticks without snapping them in half. It wasn't working. There were little splinters and stick halves all around her chair. Presently, she was frowning at the destruction. Only now did Labrys put down the axe and attach it on her back. Noticing new presences, Aigis slowly turned her head and processed what she was seeing.

Labrys and Minato were tackled by a flying glomp and flew across the room.


	7. Aeon

A Crash Course In Dimension Theory

Part 1 - Terms

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><p><em>Dimension Theory-<em> The study and laws of dimension jumping, timeline switching, and other related topics.

_Seed World-_ The idealized world that the dimension tree grows from, constantly making new worlds with different properties. These are usually still going, but loop for an unfathomably long time. When it ends, the tree will stop growing, and it is then called a Stopped Universe.

_Root Plane- _The original world of the traveller. The jumper cannot leave it for too long, or it will forcefully drag them back in a phenomenon called _Dimension Dependency_. For this to happen, you would have to be away for several million years (Usually, this only affects immortals), but often results in death, if unprepared. Only small visits are required, however.

_Branch Planes-_ The worlds that are closest to the designated dimension. These are almost always, if not all, the same in composition. Events may or may not occur differently, however.

_Far Planes-_ Worlds so far apart the events and contents are almost nothing alike but still from the same Seed world. Visiting one is not recommended, as sometimes it may be ludicrous.

_Timeline-_ Worlds start and end at different points in time, so it is possible to jump to a Branch Plane and "Time travel" that way. It is not possible to turn back time on a single world.

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><p>Chapter 7 - Aeon<p>

* * *

><p>Surprisingly, the Crow wasn't here today.<p>

This is a great day, Minako thought.

She planned to go play some Innocent Sin Online with Maya, who she was starting to suspect was Toriumi-sensei. She wasn't going to say anything, though. Thankfully, she chose a female player character instead of a male one (she usually didn't, since the male armors and items usually looked more decent). After dealing with the often-drunk teacher's shenanigans ("Lmaonade," she laughed. It was a rather hilarious phrase), she would visit the old couple at Bookworms, then check with Theo to see if there was any new requests he had. Minako would end the day with a nice cup of Pheromone coffee and reheat some leftover fried rice from Hagekure in the fridge.

And great the day was, until she tripped and painfully fell down three floors' worth of staircase.

Was one ideal day too much to ask for?

* * *

><p>"Minato!" Aigis said, with a death-grip on the poor young man. Labrys ended up included by mistake, as she was standing next to him when he was assaulted.<p>

Minato himself almost blacked out from the sheer force of a steel projectile directly hitting him in the chest and abdomen. "Aigis," He managed to choke out. "Please let go..."

"No!"

"Guys, I know this is probably a very touchin' reunion, but I think his life might be a _little_ more important." Labrys interjected, taking a seat. Reluctantly, Aigis let go at this comment. When he recovered from the initial shock, Minato looked shiftily at her, clearly signaling not to say _anything_ that the supervisors would think of as weird. As a weird stroke of luck, they weren't paying attention when Aigis shouted the boy's name (which was clearly not Makoto Yuki).

"Who is this?"

"Huh? My name's Labrys. I'm your older sister, I guess!" She smiled. It was hard to believe the panicky, almost depressed robot he had accidentally found in the storage room was the same person as the one here.

When the supervisors got bored and left, Minato immediately began explaining his situation.

"So you're sayin'... You're a person called Minako Arisato from another dimension and have already gone through this year in it."

"Yep." Minato nodded.

"And my sister here still remembers what happens, but you have no idea why."

"Yep." He nodded again.

"And you have this special coat that can make you invisible for a limited time."

"Mhm."

"Okay. Just let me… let it sink in…"

Before it did, Minato's shift was over and he had to take the boat back. He was thankful for that; he didn't really want to see Labrys's reaction. A new position as _Aigis_'s teacher alongside Labrys was a nice upgrade, even if he really didn't need the wages.

* * *

><p>"<em>Um<em>." Minato said as soon as he opened the Velvet Room door.

"Your presence in this world affected it more than I realized."

"Yeah. You think?"

"Aeon was your strongest bond, after all."

"Why'd it happen, though?"

"It is too complicated to explain to a mortal."

"I'd still like to hear it!"

"Well…"

Needless to say, it took hours (or would have taken, since time does not pass in the Velvet Room).

* * *

><p>"Y'know, SEES is like one <em>biiiig<em> dysfunctional family!" Minako threw out her arms.

"Yeah, Minako-chan?" Yukari sighed.

"Yeah!" The latter girl didn't understand where the other got all her energy from, even after the fall yesterday. Minako was running literal circles around Yukari as they were walking to school. She was not too injured courtesy of a quick dia, thankfully, despite how loud all that crashing and thumping was. Mitsuru nearly had a heart attack when she heard that it wasn't a box or something.

He looked forward to his Sundays, now. There was one day where Labrys found a small white dog and exclaimed loudly, scaring the crap out of Minato and Aigis (and, subsequently, the dog, whom was dubbed "Snowy"). One time, Aigis told Minato of a case of the accented robot's odd behavior, involving a toaster...

* * *

><p><strong>Hello again!<strong>

**I've come up with more concrete rules for the Dimension Travelling that Ankou does, so I'm now adding these extra Crash Course bits at the tops of chapters. I think it can actually apply to anything, with each video game or anime or whatever being its own Dimension Tree. Cool, huh?**

**Also, yes, I know that Maya isn't Female Protagonist's Hermit link, but _it's just so funny!_ I mean, she's your (often drunk) homeroom teacher chatting with you on an MMO. That's gotta sound better than the one that's already there.  
><strong>

**Labrys is here! Aigis's story will be in the next chapter.**

**I have not yet said this, but I check reviews regularly! Please tell me your thoughts about how this is going; it makes my day! Also, quick note: later chapters might be late! I have no more pre-prepared, so don't freak out!**

**Have a nice day,**

**~SnakeyShirogane**


	8. Toasters and Records

A Crash Course In Dimension Theory

Part II - The Order of Caelus

* * *

><p>Clearly, as allowing just anyone the ability to travel through the Planes and Trees would be disastrous, there is a Order that controls the usage of this form of transportation. It is called the Order of Caelus, named after the original discoverer of this method.<p>

Dimension jumping is extremely dangerous for an untrained being. Thus, only those who have been trained by the Order and themselves know how to perform this outside of predestinated portals open to the public to go to different places.

The Order itself resides in a chain of worlds outside of any Trees, forming a city where beings of all different appearances and personality live in a content peace.

The organization is ruled by eight different representatives, as well as twenty-four high captains. The names of the high captains correspond with both the month-based and year-based zodiacs of Earth (all of the year-based are male, all of the month-based are female), and the names of the main representatives are of different forms of Death- an ever-present factor of life, and who better to rule over the Trees than those always there?

* * *

><p>Chapter 8 - Toasters and Records<p>

* * *

><p>...Labrys sat alone at a table in the lab. In front of her, there was a ticking metal box. She narrowed her eyes and glared at the little machine.<p>

"I don't understand."

Weren't machines supposed to have some sort of… use? Labrys stuck her hand into the empty slot. This only served to confused her further; what would need to be heated on its side and would fit in this?! The robot put her head down on the table and continued angrily staring at the offending box. Why is it ticking, anyway? It's obviously not a bomb, or else she would have detected gunpowder or some other exploding chemical. Sure, she was asleep for a few years and even now barely knew anything about human customs, but this thing was just ridiculous. Aigis thumped her way down the stairs and looked at her sister weirdly.

"Nee-chan, what are you doing?" she asked, incredulous.

"Starin' at this thing." Labrys answered. "Aigis, what is this used for?"

Aigis blinked. "It's… a toaster."

The older robot turned back to the said machine. "'A toaster'...?"

She resumed attempting to bore holes into it with her eyes. Cautiously, she raised a hand and moved slowly it towards the little switch…

_**DING**_

A toasted slab of bread smacked Labrys in the face and knocked her chair over. A loud crash rattled through the room. Slowly, the assaulted ASSW sat up.

"Nee-chan, are you oka-" Aigis attempted.

"That was _awesome_!" She jumped up and turned to Aigis, inspired. "So! What's it for?"

"It's used to cook bread, called toasting. That's why it's called a toaster."

"You sure? It's not like some kinda bread cannon?"

The younger android facepalmed. "Yes, I'm sure that it's not a bread cannon."

"Okay."

(It was after this story that Minato realized how much he worried for the ASSWs' safety.)

* * *

><p>Minako was always a fan of music. So much so, that her MP3 Player was nearly full, and it took her three hours agonizing over deleting unnecessary songs so that she could just fill it up with more songs. And so, when she discovered a new album from her favorite artist in her shoe locker, with no notes whatsoever, she kept it- no questions asked. Whoever sent it must know her well.<p>

The next day, she visited the records shop in case anything new came in- other than the album she was just sent, titled Soul Phrase after the main song on it. Seeing nothing she didn't have already, she asked the cashier; He definitely memorized her name and face by now, since her visits have become nearly weekly. In fact, it wouldn't be hard to believe all the shop-owners in Paulownia Mall knew her by now, with her boundless energy.

"Anything new?"

"No, but another album from that band you liked is coming out soon." The worker tilted his head. "Called Soul Phrase, if I remember correctly."

Minako blinked. "Wasn't that already out?"

"Nah, there was this poster, see, that said it'd be released to the public in a few weeks. It was hanging by the window."

Sure enough, when the young wild card whipped her head around to look at the aforementioned poster, it was announced for a date a little less than a _month_ away.

"U-Uh, thanks, I'll go now. See you next week!" She forced on a crooked smile, turned on her heel, and bolted out of the store, leaving the cashier in windswept confusion.

* * *

><p>Now that couldn't be right, Minako thought, sweating bullets. Something's wrong here.<p>

She couldn't have been given an album-with no labels, no less-from the future.

How would that even work?

Questions swarmed her mind. Eventually, after much pacing around, she calmed down enough to pick up the music disc's sleeve and inspect it. When it was flipped upside down, a small slip of paper floated out and landed gracefully on the floor.

Her heart stopped.

* * *

><p><strong>I am so sorry.<br>This was a day late because _I was lazy and didn't remember that I have a schedule to keep_**

**On the bright side, there's a frickin' _blizzard_ the day after this is posted. So I can spend the whole day just restocking the backlog! And it was announced the day after I said to my mom,**

**"Huh, so I guess there won't be any snow days this year."**

**Why do I do this to myself. But less school is always welcome, I guess.  
><strong>

**Stay warm,**

**~SnakeyShirogane  
><strong>


	9. Ankou

A Crash Course In Dimension Theory

Part III - Ankou and Those Of Interest

* * *

><p>Ankou, the third representative, is in charge of the maintenance of several Trees, and to hunt out Those of Interest to the Order. This occurs rarely, as most Worlds are very similar, and if it isn't or the Plane is a result of two intersecting Branches, it's often interesting but not enough to warrant a visit. Those of Interest are required to have the potential to alter another World off the path it was going to take drastically- to the point of extending the total life of the Dimension much greater than what it would be without. Of course, sometimes it gets a little boring. The Order might offer a jump to an individual amusing enough, but this is also uncommon. A few minor worlds have been turned around from its path to destruction this way (or, more often, led to its death), but the representatives are careful to never offer a larger world to a boredom-appeaser. Such would be foolhardy, like sentencing it to death- And who knew what consequences might happen?<p>

* * *

><p>Chapter 9 - Ankou<p>

* * *

><p><em>Hello.<em>

_My name is of no concern to you, but you may call me Ankou._

_I hope you liked this album. It's a personal favorite of mine. By now you must have surely realized that it's not really from around here. After all, it's not from this time period…_

_Ah. I'm sorry, I should explain myself. I am the specter who has been observing your movements, as well as the ominous presence in Tartarus. I would like to meet with SEES to discuss on the last day of May at approximately 11:30 PM at your dorm, if it would not bother you._

_I will leave it to you to inform your teammates._

_Ankou_

* * *

><p>However meticulously written it was, it was still a bit on the messy side. The paper didn't have a single crease or wrinkle, and it was pretty average printer stuff, cut out from a larger piece. And SEES still needs to worry about the rumors of a missing student, and it was only the day after the exam scores were posted (Junpei was still a bit sulky). The date today was the 26th, and that meant five days before the appointment. Minako's face was frozen as she marched down the stairs to the lounge stiffly. Mitsuru looked up from her french novel and quirked an eyebrow.<p>

"Arisato, what are you doing?"

The addressed girl gulped and stuttered, "I-I got a note, along with this." She held up the album.

"That's not uncommon."

"N-No, but… The album hasn't even been released yet, and won't be for almost a month…" Nervously, she gave her senpai the note. "This was in it."

"I see…"

* * *

><p>Five days later, the whole of SEES so far sat nervously in the dorm lounge. It was already approaching 11:35 when everyone arrived, but it seemed so much longer to the antsy teenagers (though, Ikutsuki seemed fine). Junpei was almost going to suggest that this Ankou person wouldn't be arriving after all, but the door opened slowly, letting in a gust of cold air.<p>

"I hope you'll excuse me for being late." The figure's voice sounded a little muffled, like there was a thin cloth over his mouth. He was of average height, perhaps a little shorter than Akihiko, and wore a long, dark gray coat, with the hood up. As it was, it was impossible to see the person's hair or face.

"What's with the hood?" Junpei asked, a little surprised.

"It would be… problematic if you were to know my identity."

"Wouldn't that just make us suspicious?" Mitsuru commented.

"I'm willing to take that risk. Now, let's get down to business."

"You may call me Ankou. It should have come to your attention that I am, indeed, from the future." A few people nodded, but Junpei and Yukari, having arrived late, looked surprised. It wasn't _quite_ right, but bringing the details in would be… unwise. "I am here to discuss the Shadows."

* * *

><p>On cue, the Dark Hour struck and there were a few raised eyebrows. The fact that 'Ankou' wasn't a coffin proved that he was serious. Internally, Minato chuckled. He was getting the desired effect, and he didn't practice talking like he had a stick up his butt to mess it up. In fact, there were even a few slips of paper with notes in his hood to make sure he didn't forget anything. There was only one shot, after all, and it wasn't like it was an exam.<p>

"I will not say much, but be cautious on the next full moon. Be prepared for anything, and keep in touch with each other. Take this seriously." He paused to let it sink in. "It would be best to ask Kirijo-san about the shadows, but I'm afraid she has some of the wrong information. Shadows originated from places unknown, but it was from a certain accident that the Dark Hour and the creatures themselves, including the twelve large Arcanas (of which you have defeated two), came into being. The same accident resulted in your leader's car accident ten years ago, as well as Takeba-san's father's passing.

"Defeating all twelve Arcana shadows will only result in Death's arrival."

* * *

><p>"If you would like to contact me again, leave a message at the first floor of Tartarus. There will be a column." Minato turned to leave here, "and I'm not available on Sunday." And gone.<p>

* * *

><p>As he headed home from the ground floor of the eerie tower, he let out a breath of relief. He was cutting it a little close. He could still use Trafuri out of the Dark Hour, but he'd rather not have anyone seeing him appear out of nowhere.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Oh my god.<strong>

**I am so sorry you guys.**

**I am** _**lazy **_**and I am** _**forgetful **_**and I'm **_**really bad at writing the same thing for an extended period of time**_ **and I'm **_**sorry**_

**If this chapter doesn't seem entirely completed, that's just me panicking because I missed a day and this is already late as well.**

**Hopefully the next chapter's out on time. And I don't end up missing another date.**

**Hopefully.**

**~SnakeyShirogane**


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